Alameda County Biographies
FRANK W. BILGER
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm
Business, fraternal, social and political interests of Oakland find a progressive and
worthy representative in Frank W. Bilger, whose interests have extended to many fields touching
closely the general development of this community. He is president, treasurer and general
manager of The Oakland Paving Company and has a record of able and far-sighted service as
president of the Chamber of Commerce. He has been active in the support of various progressive
public measures and his name has come to be regarded as synonymous with development and
progress in this locality.
Frank W. Bilger was born at Willow Springs, Jackson county, Oregon, August 2, 1868, a
son of William F. and Pauline (Hauser) Bilger, both of German ancestry. His education was
acquired in San Leandro, Alameda county, where the family moved in 1874 and where he remained
until 1883, after which he spent two years working upon his father's farm at Vacaville, Solano
county. Tiring of this, he secured employment in 1885 in Bowman's drug store in Oakland as
errand boy, window washer and general handy man. During this time he entered the department of
pharmacy at the University of California and was graduated in 1889 with the degree of Ph. G.
Pending his intended entrance into the Cooper Medical College, he secured a position as
collector for the Oakland Paving Company and, becoming interested in this line of work, rose
rapidly to the position of bookkeeper. On the death of one of the owners he was elected a
member of the board of trustees and later was made secretary, treasurer and general manager.
He is now president of the company, which position his initiative spirit and executive ability
make him eminently well qualified to fill. In 1905 Mr. Bilger, with Anson S. Blake, organized
the Blake & Bilger Company, contractors for all kinds of work connected with the paving
business. Although he has labored for his individual success, he is also interested in the
general business advancement of the city and for years promoted this in an intelligent and
able way as a director of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce. During the period of his service
the membership in this body was greatly increased and his work proved so valuable that in 1906,
on the consolidation of the Chamber of Commerce with the Board of Trade, he was made first vice
president of the organization, of which he was elected president in the following year. In his
official capacity and as a private citizen he took an active part in the relief work following
the fire of 1906 and was truly a Good Samaritan to those afflicted in that disaster. Mr. Bilger
organized the Harbor Bank in 1907 and served as its first president, inaugurating the policy of
progressiveness, tempered by a safe conservatism, to which its directorate has since adhered. He
is recognized in business circles as a resourceful and discriminating man, whose sagacity is
far-reaching and whose integrity is beyond question.
In Oakland, on the 19th of December, 1894, Mr. Bilger was united in marriage to Miss
Carrie S. Siebe, a daughter of George Siebe, for many years an official in the San Francisco
customhouse. Mr. and Mrs. Bilger have four children�Anson S., Marion A., William F. and Frank
W., Jr.
Mr. Bilger is prominent in Masonic circles in California and was the organizer of the
Alameda County Shriners Club. He was instrumental in having the Imperial Council grant a charter
for Aahmes Temple, Oakland's new shrine, and in 1910 was elected first illustrious potentate of
this temple. He is a member of the Yuerba Buena Lodge, A. F. & A. M.; Oakland Chapter, No. 36,
R. A. M.; Oakland Commandery, K. T., and Oakland Consistory, A. & A. S. R. He is connected with
St. Philip Conclave, Red Cross of Constantine, M. P. Sovereign.
Mr. Bilger is also well known in local republican politics and stands high in the councils
of his party, his public service having been always of the most intelligent and discriminating
kind. For a period of six years he was chairman of the city central Committee and in 1905 he
managed Mayor Mott's campaign. He was also state campaign manager for Alden Anderson, candidate
for governor in 1910, and he has done important political work along this line. Besides the
Oakland Chamber of Commerce he is a member of the Merchants Exchange, the Oakland Commercial, the
University of California, Athenian, Nile and Deutscher Clubs, the Woodmen of the World, the Loyal
Order of Moose, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks the Union League and the Royal Rosarians
of Portland. He is the tenth member of the Society of American Magicians and also a member of the
Pacific Coast Society of Magicians and was one of the organizers and the first secretary of the
Vernon Heights and Lake Shore Improvement Club. He also belongs to the Claremont Country Club and
is fond of outdoor sports, especially hunting and fishing. He is a member of the San Francisco Fly
Casting Club, going to the Sierra Nevada mountains and to Lodge on the Truckee river. He is a man
of varied interests, practically all of which he has made forces in progress, and for many years
the influence of his ability and personality have been a constructive element in the advancement
of the community.
Past & Present of Alameda County, California � Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914, p. 440